The United States spent the most last year on nuclear weapons development.

China was the second largest spender last year.

The SMART Treaty expires in 2021.

A new report by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons states that global spending on nuclear weapons development set a record not seen since the end of the cold war. The ICANW is a global civil society coalition working to promote adherence to and full implementation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland.

Nuclear Secrecy Hypothetical Nuclear Attack Scenario.

The five official members of the “nuclear club” are: the United States, Russia, France, UK and China. Additionally, India, Israel, North Korea and Israel invest in nuclear weapons development.

Overall, the compounded funds spent on such weapons is just under $73 billion. This is $7 billion more than in 2018. The US invested close to $35.4 billion in the nuclear weapons development in 2019 This is the highest amount spent on the planet.

A single nuclear bomb detonated over a large city could kill millions of people. The use of tens or hundreds of nuclear bombs would disrupt the global climate, causing widespread famine. There is an interactive tool that can show the exact destruction nuclear weapons can cause in each area. For example, the outcome of detonating US W-80 on Beijing in one hypothetical scenario.

US president Donald Trump spoke out favorably about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to hold a “Nuclear Five” summit.

Nuclear Weapons Development Chart.

The Smart Treaty between the US and Russia expires in 2021. The agreement was last updated in 2010. The formal name of the treaty is START and it is a nuclear arms reduction treaty. According to the terms of the START treaty, each side will reduce its strategic offensive arms while the total quantities do not exceed 700 units deployed.

However there is a provision to extend the treaty until 2026. The US has proposed an amendment to the SMART treaty to include the new class of Russian weapons. The US and Russia have about 5,000 nuclear warheads each. If the SMART Treaty is not renewed the numbers may skyrocket.

In the third place is the United Kingdom spending $8.9 billion, Russia fourth at $8.5 billion, France at $4 billion, India at $2.3 billion, Israel at $1 billion, Pakistan at $1 billion and North Korea at $620 million.

The world does not need more nuclear weapons. This class of weapons can destroy the world.

How many times over can we kill each other and in how many ways? Even the threat weighs heavy on our lives each day. Reagan was right with the Star Wars plan. We need to be able to take them out before they can explode.